Last week, Grand County High School hosted the first of three high-school level Quiz Bowl events scheduled by the Southeast Education Service Center this spring. At the event, held Thursday, March 21, the Red Devils won the junior varsity division and took second place in the varsity tournament.

The tournament featured students in grades 10 through 12 from Grand, San Juan, and Emery High Schools. Each team had four players compete at a time in 25-question games. The questions covered a wide range of academic topics. Two different tournaments were staged – a varsity tournament in the auditorium and a junior varsity event in the band room. However, each tournament used the same set of questions.

In the JV tournament, Grand High took first place, going 4-1 overall. In the initial round-robin pool play, the Red Devils lost to Emery 140-75, but came back to defeat both of San Juan’s teams, beating the “Blue” team 100-10 and the “White” team 65-50.

Grand then advanced to the single-elimination finals as the No. 2 seed, where the Red Devils JV team once again beat the San Juan “Blue” team. In the finals, Grand beat the San Juan “White” team, which had upset Emery in the previous game. Emery ended up in third place.

In the varsity tournament, Grand fielded two teams, while Emery and San Juan each had one. Both of Grand’s teams went 2-1 in the initial round of pool play. Grand’s “Red” team beat San Juan 120-70 and defeated Emery 110-70, but then lost to the Grand “White” team 130-95.

Grand’s “White” team lost to Emery 160-45, but beat San Juan 140-95. Emery also lost to San Juan 145-55 in the round robin.

Despite going 1-2 in pool play and having the lowest seed for the four-team finals, Emery came alive in the finals round, upsetting Grand’s “White” team by the score of 145-105. That set up a final game between Emery and Grand’s “Red” team, which had beaten San Juan 155-100 in a semifinals match.

In the finals, the Grand “Red” team couldn’t overcome a slow start and ultimately fell to Emery 140-90. Members of Grand’s runner-up “Red” team were Maren Larsen, Nat Smith, Reyce Knutson, and Jackson Knowles.

In the match for third place, San Juan rallied to defeat Grand’s “White” team 115-70. Members of the GCHS “White” squad were Deanna Irvin, Adam Jenkinson, Andrew Hugentobler, Delaney Manley, and Becca Farnsworth, with James Martin also filling in a spot in the last game.

Two additional high-school level Quiz Bowl events are scheduled to take place next month – on Tuesday, April 9 at Carbon High School and on Monday, April 15 at San Juan.

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